PITTSBURGH -- A slow American economy is taking its toll on the manufacturing industry -- but Call 4 Action found hundreds of Pittsburgh-area jobs unfilled at businesses that are hunting for workers.

Reporter Aaron Saykin said some of these companies are growing fast and not enough people are applying -- and some applicants don't have basic skills and can't pass a drug test.

Holtech Manufacturing, of East Pittsburgh, makes massive steel storage containers for spent nuclear fuel. The company is expanding quickly but can't find enough workers.

"We have people who are making $70,000 a year plus with their overtime in the welding positions," said Holtech's Jennifer McDade.

That shortage of workers is shared by dozens of manufacturing companies across the region, according to SMC Business Councils president Lee Taddonio.

"It's not the old dirty environment you think of in the past, with the steel mills and everything else," Taddonio said.

Like Holtech, many of these companies do some higher-end manufacturing. The weak American dollar and concerns about unsafe products overseas have motivated companies to make more goods in the U.S.

"I think that we have a real possibility of becoming a world power in manufacturing again in Pittsburgh," McDade said.

But Pittsburgh's labor force is aging, and many of the people seeking to replace the older workers don't have either the vocational or basic math skills.

"Fifty percent of the people that apply for these jobs can't pass the drug test," Taddonio said. "That's a serious problem."

Some companies are even willing to train workers for jobs starting anywhere from $15 to $30 an hour, if they can find someone to do the work.

Many of these open positions are compiled by the SMC Business Councils at www.smc.org, in addition to radio and newspaper advertisements.

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